Narrow gauge tufting machine

ABSTRACT

A tufting machine for forming a narrow gauge pile fabric wherein the needles are positioned in two closely spaced rows extending laterally across the machine. The needles of one row are laterally off-set or staggered in relation to the needles of the other row, and the loopers are shifted laterally as well as longitudinally during operation of the machine such that each looper operatively engages a needle in each row in forming the pile fabric.

United States Patent [191 Jackson [451 Nov. 26, 1974 NARROW GAUGE TUFIING MACHINE [75] Inventor: Obie R. Jackson, Dalton, Ga.

[73] Assignee: B & J Machinery Company, Inc.,

Dalton, Ga.

[22] Filed: Feb. 1, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 328,839

[52] US. Cl. 112/79 R, 112/199 [51] Int. Cl. D05c 15/22 [58] Field of Search 112/79 R, 266, 410, 79 A, 112/165, 199

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,433,241 10/1922 Seymour 112/165 3,019,748 2/1962 Card 112/79 A 3,162,155 12/1964 Charles 112/79 R 3,324,812 6/1967 Smith 112/79 R 5/1969 Lund 112 79 R 10/1972 Codos 112/164 Primary Examiner-James R. Boler Assistant Examiner-Wai M. Chan Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Parrott, Bell, Seltzer, Park & Gibson [5 7] ABSTRACT A tufting machine for forming a narrow gauge pile fabric wherein the needles are positioned in two closely spaced rows extending laterally across the machine. The needles of one row are laterally off-set or staggered in relation to the needles of the other row, and the loopers are shifted laterally as well as longitudinally during operation of the machine such that each looper operatively engages a needle in each row in forming the pile fabric.

5 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTEL qnv 26 I974 SHEH 2 HF 2 NARROW GAUGE TUFTING MACHINE The present invention relates to a tufting machine adapted to fabricate narrow gauge pile fabric suitable for use as upholstery, carpeting or the like.

In the tufting industry, it has been the practice for many years to manufacture pile fabrics of both the loop and cut pile type by an apparatus employing a single row of laterally spaced needles and cooperating pile forming instrumentalities such as loopers and knives. However, due to the physical limitations imposed by the lateral spacing required by such pile forming instrumentalities, the gauge of the pile fabric able to be formed with these tufting machines has been limited, and such relatively large guage often results in visible rows of tufts in the fabric.

To obtain a more narrow gauge fabric, it has been proposed to employ two rows of needles which are widely spaced from each other in the longitudinal or machine direction and with the needles of one row being staggered with respect to the other row such that the rows of loops formed in the backing fabric have one-half the gauge or spacing of the needles in each row. While such machines are satisfactory in many applications, the size of the necessary pile forming instrumentalities has required that the two rows be spaced relatively far apart in the longitudinal direction, and this has in turn led to problems in maintaining the alignment of the backing material between the two rows.

It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a tufting machine capable of efficiently manufacturing a narrow gauge pile fabric.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a tufting machine which includes two closely spaced rows of tufting needles with the needles of one row being laterally off-set or staggered in relation to the needles of the other row, and wherein each looper takes the loops off one needle of each row.

It is a more specifieobjectof the present invention to provide a tufting machine comprising multiple pairs of tufting needles and with the needles of each pair being longitudinally and laterally spaced from each other to define an oblique direction, and wherein each looper takes the loops off one needle of each row.

It is a more specific object of the present invention to provide a tufting machine comprising multiple pairs of tufting needles and with the needles of each pair being longitudinally and laterally spaced from each other to define an oblique direction, and wherein each looper reciprocates along the oblique direction to operatively engage both needles of the associated pair.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a tufting machine adapted to produce loops which are somewhat turned or twisted with respect to the row line to thereby provide improved coverage.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention are achieved in the embodiment illustrated herein by provision of a tufting machine which comprises means for feeding the backing material longitudinally therethrough, and two closely spaced rows of tufting needles defining multiple pairs of needles and with the needles of each pair being longitudinally'and laterally spaced from each other. The rows of needles are mounted for vertical reciprocation in a direction transverse to the path of travel of the backing material and are arranged to carry yarns through the backing material to form rows of tufts therein. Looper means are disposed beneath the path of travel for forming the pile from the yarns carried by the needles, the looper means comprising one looper for each pair of needles and means mounting the loopers for concurrent reciprocation in both the longitudinal and lateral directions so that each looper is adapted to operatively engage both needles of the associated pair of needles.

Some of the objects and advantages of the invention having been stated, others will appear as the description proceeds, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a fragmentary sectional side view of a tufting machine incorporating the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional plan view taken substantially along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1 and illustrating one embodiment of the loop construction formed in the backing fabric in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of the means for reciprocating the loopers in a direction oblique to the machine direction;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the loopers and associated needles as shown in FIG. 3.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, a tufting machine which incorporates the features of the present invention is indicated generally at 10. It will be understood that only those portions of the machine which incorporate the present invention have been illustrated, and that the non-illustrated portions are generally conventional. The machine includes a frame 12 which is adapted to be supported on a horizontal surface such as the floor of a building, and the frame 12 carried a plurality of spike or feed rolls 14 in the conventional manner. The rolls 14 are designed to feed an elongate backing material 16 longitudinally across the needleplate 18 and through the machine to define the machine direction indicated by the arrows 19 in FlGS. l and 2.

The needle mechanism 20 of the tufting machine includes the needle carrier 22 mounting multiple pairs of tufting needles. Each pair of needles comprises a forward needle 24a and a rear needle 24b, withthe rear needle being both longitudinally and laterally spaced from the forward needle to define an oblique direction indicated by the arrow 26 as seen in FIG. 2. The multiple pairs of needles further define two closely spaced parallel rows of needles extending laterally across the machine, the forward row comprising the needles 24a and the rear row comprising the needles 24b. The needle carrier 22 is mounted on the frame for reciprocation in a direction transverse to the path of travel of the elongate backing material 16 in a manner conventional in the art. Upon such reciprocation of the needles, the yarns 28 are carried through the backing material to form the rows of tufts 30 in the manner hereinafter further described.

To form the tufts from the yarns carried by the needles, there is provided looper means generally indicated at 32. The looper means 32 comprises a plurality of loopers 34 disposed beneath the path of travel of the backing material and immediately below the needle mechanism 20. Also, the number of loopers 34 corresponds to the number of pairs of needles. As best seen in FIG. 2, each looper includes a forward bill 35 which is inclined to extend in the oblique direction 26, and the loopers are mounted to the frame for reciprocation along the same direction. Thus the bill of each looper is adapted to operatively engage both of the needles of its associated pair during reciprocation thereof.

The means for mounting the loopers 34 comprises the rocker arms 36 which are mounted to the frame for oscillation about the axis of the pivot shaft 37. The drive for the rocker arms 36 includes the oscillating drive shaft 38 and connecting link 39 as seen in FIG. 1, the shaft 38 being oscillated by the main drive shaft (not shown) of the machine in a conventional manner.

A slide 40 is carried by the rocker arms 36 and is mounted for lateral reciprocation along the upper surfaces of the arms. More particularly, the slide 40 is mounted for reciprocation along the channel defined by the oppositely facing sides of the slide block 42 on each rocker arm and as best seen in FIG. 3. The frame 12 includes a fixed head portion 44 on opposite sides of the machine, and each head portion mounts an inwardly extending plate 45. The plate 45 in turn each mounts a downwardly extending pin 46 having a cylindrical end portion 48 extending below the surface of the plate 45. The ends of the slide 40 each fixedly mount an end plate 49 having an inclined slot 50 receiving the end portion 48 of the pin 46 therein. The slot 50 on each end plate is disposed in a direction parallel to the oblique direction 26, such that movement of the pin 46 along the slot resulting from the oscillation of the rocker arms 36 causes the slide 40 to reciprocate laterally along the rocker arm within the slide block 42.

The slide 40 further mounts a looper bar 52, the looper bar in turn mounting the loopers 34. Thus upon oscillation of the rocker arms 36, the slide 40 and the loopers 34 are caused to laterally reciprocate. Thus the loopers concurrently reciprocate in the longitudinal and lateral directions, and the resulting movement is along the oblique direction 26 as seen in FIG. 2.

In the operation of the tufting machine 10, the elongate backing material 16 if continuously or intermittently fed by the feed rolls 14 along a predetermined longitudinal path of travel from right to left as seen in FIG. I and beneath the needle mechanism 20. The needles reciprocate in a direction transverse to the path of the backing material and carry the yarns through the backing material while the loopers reciprocate along the oblique direction to operatively engage the needles and form the rows of tufts 30 in the backing material 16. As is conventional, the reciprocation of the needle carrier is coordinated with the reciprocation of the loopers such that the loopers catch the loops of yarn when the needles penetrate the backing material 16. Also, as will be apparent, the fact that each looper operatively engages a needle from each row permits the number of loopers to be reduced by half, thereby permitting the spacing between the needles and thus the gauge of the machine to be minimized.

While the illustrated apparatus is designed to form narrow gauge loop pile fabric, it will be understood that the invention is also adapted to form narrow gauge cut pile, or combinations of cut and loop pile, by the addition of suitable knives in association with the loopers.

In the drawings and specification, there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention, and although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.

That which is claimed is: l. A tufting machine for forming a narrow gauge pile fabric or the like comprising a frame, means mounted on said frame for feeding elongate backing material longitudinally along a path of travel, multiple pairs of tufting needles mounted on said frame for reciprocation in a direction transverse to the path of travel and arranged to carry yarns through the backing material to form rows of tufts therein, the needles of each of said pairs being both longitudinally and laterally spaced from each other to define an oblique direction, and said pairs of needles being laterally spaced from each other a distance substantially corresponding to the lateral spacing of the needles of each pair so that the rows of tufts formed in the backing material are substantially equally spaced, means for concurrently reciprocating said multiple pairs of tufting needles to carry the yarns through the backing material, and

looper means mounted on said frame and operatively associated with said pairs of needles for forming pile from the yarns carried by the needles, said looper means comprising a plurality of loopers disposed beneath said path of travel of the backing material and corresponding in number to the number of pairs of needles, means mounting said loopers for reciprocation in said oblique direction such that each looper is adapted to operatively engage both of the needles of the associated pair, and means for reciprocating said loopers in said oblique direction and in timed relation with the reciprocation of said pairs of tufting needles.

2. The tufting machine as defined in claim 1 wherein said loopers each include a forward bill which is adapted to engage the needles, said bill being inclined to extend in said oblique direction.

3. The tufting machine as defined in claim 2 wherein said multiple pairs of tufting needles are disposed in two closely spaced parallel rows of needles extending laterally across said machine.

4. A tufting machine for forming a narrow gauge pile fabric or the like comprising a frame,

means mounted on said frame for feeding elongate backing material longitudinally along a path of travel,

multiple pairs of tufting needles mounted on said frame for reciprocation in a direction transverse to the path of travel and arranged to carry yarns through the backing material to form rows of tufts therein, the needles'of each of said pairs being both longitudinally and laterally spaced from each other to define an oblique direction and to define two closely spaced parallel rows of needles extending laterally across said machine,

means for concurrently reciprocating said multiple pairs of tufting needles to carry the yarns through the backing material, and loop means mounted on said frame and operatively associated with said pairs of needles for forming pile from the yarns carried by the needles, said looper means comprising a plurality of loopers dis- 6 posed beneath said path of travel of the backing reciprocating said slide such that said loopers rematerial and corresponding in number to the numciprocate in said oblique direction and in timed reber of pairs of needles, each of said loopers includlation with the reciprocation of said pairs of tufting ing a forward bill which is inclined to extend in said needles. oblique direction, 5 5. The tufting machine as defined in claim 4 wherein means mounting said loopers for reciprocation in said means mounting said loopers further comprises a said oblique direction such that each looper is pin fixedly carried by one of said slide or said frame, adapted to operatively engage both of the needles and a slot disposed in the other of said slide or said of the associated pair, said mounting means comframe and receiving said pin therein, said slot being disprising a rocker arm mounted for oscillation in the 10 posed in a direction parallel to said oblique direction longitudinal direction and a slide carried by said such that movement of said pin along said slot resulting rocker arm and mounted for lateral reciprocation from the oscillation of said rocker arm causes said slide along said rocker arm, said loopers being fixedly to reciprocate laterally along said rocker arm and said carried by said slide, and loopers to reciprocate in said oblique direction.

means for osciallating said rocker arm while laterally 

1. A tufting machine for forming a narrow gauge pile fabric or the like comprising a frame, means mounted on said frame for feeding elongate backing material longitudinally along a path of travel, multiple pairs of tufting needles mounted on said frame for reciprocation in a direction transverse to the path of travel and arranged to carry yarns through the backing material to form rows of tufts therein, the needles of each of said pairs being both longitudinally and laterally spaced from each other to define an oblique direction, and said pairs of needles being lateralLy spaced from each other a distance substantially corresponding to the lateral spacing of the needles of each pair so that the rows of tufts formed in the backing material are substantially equally spaced, means for concurrently reciprocating said multiple pairs of tufting needles to carry the yarns through the backing material, and looper means mounted on said frame and operatively associated with said pairs of needles for forming pile from the yarns carried by the needles, said looper means comprising a plurality of loopers disposed beneath said path of travel of the backing material and corresponding in number to the number of pairs of needles, means mounting said loopers for reciprocation in said oblique direction such that each looper is adapted to operatively engage both of the needles of the associated pair, and means for reciprocating said loopers in said oblique direction and in timed relation with the reciprocation of said pairs of tufting needles.
 2. The tufting machine as defined in claim 1 wherein said loopers each include a forward bill which is adapted to engage the needles, said bill being inclined to extend in said oblique direction.
 3. The tufting machine as defined in claim 2 wherein said multiple pairs of tufting needles are disposed in two closely spaced parallel rows of needles extending laterally across said machine.
 4. A tufting machine for forming a narrow gauge pile fabric or the like comprising a frame, means mounted on said frame for feeding elongate backing material longitudinally along a path of travel, multiple pairs of tufting needles mounted on said frame for reciprocation in a direction transverse to the path of travel and arranged to carry yarns through the backing material to form rows of tufts therein, the needles of each of said pairs being both longitudinally and laterally spaced from each other to define an oblique direction and to define two closely spaced parallel rows of needles extending laterally across said machine, means for concurrently reciprocating said multiple pairs of tufting needles to carry the yarns through the backing material, and looper means mounted on said frame and operatively associated with said pairs of needles for forming pile from the yarns carried by the needles, said looper means comprising a plurality of loopers disposed beneath said path of travel of the backing material and corresponding in number to the number of pairs of needles, each of said loopers including a forward bill which is inclined to extend in said oblique direction, means mounting said loopers for reciprocation in said oblique direction such that each looper is adapted to operatively engage both of the needles of the associated pair, said mounting means comprising a rocker arm mounted for oscillation in the longitudinal direction and a slide carried by said rocker arm and mounted for lateral reciprocation along said rocker arm, said loopers being fixedly carried by said slide, and means for osciallating said rocker arm while laterally reciprocating said slide such that said loopers reciprocate in said oblique direction and in timed relation with the reciprocation of said pairs of tufting needles.
 5. The tufting machine as defined in claim 4 wherein said means mounting said loopers further comprises a pin fixedly carried by one of said slide or said frame, and a slot disposed in the other of said slide or said frame and receiving said pin therein, said slot being disposed in a direction parallel to said oblique direction such that movement of said pin along said slot resulting from the oscillation of said rocker arm causes said slide to reciprocate laterally along said rocker arm and said loopers to reciprocate in said oblique direction. 